China proposes rulemaking on vehicle ADAS

China’s Ministry of Industry of Information Technology has proposed rulemaking on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), according to Reuters.

Carmaker Dongfeng Motor and tech company Huawei are involved in drafting the requirements, according to the article. It says China’s national standards database has posted a deadline of July 4. 

“The deliberations come as automakers have been rushing to launch new models equipped with ADAS, touting such capabilities as key selling points amid a brutal price war that has extended into a third year in the world’s largest auto market,” Reuters said. 

Reuters also broke a story last month about China banning automakers from using the terms “autonomous driving” and “smart driving” in advertisements. 

It comes after a fatal crash involving Xiaomi’s SU7 sedan that has triggered safety concerns, Reuters says. 

“Preliminary findings showed the Xiaomi car caught fire after hitting a cement roadside pole at a speed of 97 kph (60 mph), seconds after its driver took over control from the advanced driving assistance system (ADAS),” Reuters says. 

Forbes reports that while the cause of the crash is unclear, Chinese regulators’ reaction is that drivers need to know what their car can actually do. It notes the UK government’s 2024 Automated Vehicles Act made it an offense to use misleading language in marketing such technologies. 

“Generally, when it comes to driverless technologies, many academics and regulators turn to the ‘levels’ laid out by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) — but ‘partial level 2 driverless’ doesn’t exactly make for compelling marketing,” Forbes says. “Consider Chinese carmaker BYD: it calls its ADAS ‘God’s Eye.”’

Saber Fallah, professor of Safe AI and Autonomy at the University of Surrey, told Forbes that a clear solution is needed for consumers. 

“I believe the terminology used to describe automated driving technologies plays a crucial role in shaping public perception and expectations,” Fallah told Forbes. “Terms like self-driving, autonomous, or smart driving can be highly misleading — especially when used to market vehicles that are not capable of full autonomy (i.e., below SAE Level 4). Such language can create a false sense of security, leading users to overestimate the vehicle’s capabilities and underestimate their own responsibilities behind the wheel.”

Jack Stilgoe, a professor at University College London, told Forbes that on top of words like “smart” and “autonomous,” other words like “self-driving” or “driverless” should also be reconsidered for marketing. 

“Even the most technologically advanced companies need to be much clearer about what engineers call the ‘operational design domain’ — the conditions in which the vehicle can operate safely,” he adds. “There aren’t any cars (and probably never will be) that can go everywhere at any time in any conditions.”

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